A 30-year-old Galt man was killed in an industrial accident Thursday in Le Grand.
The man was identified as Benjamin Novoa by the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.
The accident occurred around 11 a.m. in the 7000 block of White Rock Road.
According to the sheriff’s department, Novoa was unloading pipes from a flatbed truck for a drilling operation. The pipes, 40 feet in length and 18 inches in diameter and made of steel, were being off loaded using straps. A wedge used to keep the remaining pipes in place either broke or came free while Novoa was on the back of the truck. The pipe knocked Novoa off the flatbed onto the ground, where the pipe rolled off the truck and over Novoa, said sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Tom MacKenzie.
Witnesses said Novoa immediately got up, but workers told him to lie back down. His condition deteriorated quickly and medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting an investigation into the matter.